Thursday 3 March 2016

Little Moreton Hall


Building began on Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire, England, between 1503 and 1508 and was completed by 1600.  



It was built and owned by the Moreton family until taken over by the National Trust in the Twentieth Century.

The courtyard.
This is a dog kennel in the courtyard.

The massive burden of the stone flagged roof has weighed down on the beams for 500 years causing buckling that means there is hardly a single floor or wall that meets at a right angle.

The gallery chamber is probably the best example of how the floor and walls have warped over time.

In a house like this the Long Gallery usually sits directly above the floor below but in this case the gallery was built narrower to make it look longer as a result of which it doesn’t sit on the beams below.

 



Most of the indoors is Tudor wooden panelling.

When this was removed in one room earlier wall paintings from 1580 were exposed.  The wording is in English not Latin showing the growth of Protestantism and the increase in making religious texts available to the masses not just to the clergy.


At a time when glass was a sign of wealth the Moreton family displayed theirs in great style.





National Trust volunteers often dress up in costume to give demonstrations to visitors and school parties.


Tudor buildings like Little Moreton Hall are generally known as Black and White buildings by virtue of their colouring today.  In fact, when they were built they were silver and buttermilk.  The oak beams quite quickly turned silver in the light and the lime wash used was a creamy buttermilk colour. In Victorian times it was thought that tarring the timbers increased their longevity and the recipe for the limewash changed to become a contrasting white.

20 comments:

  1. I have driven past many times but foolishly never stopped. It is almost out of this world.

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  2. Beautiful structure and I can hear the ghosts moving through the halls. Is it going to eventually collapse in some place? Are their plans to add support? I like the last photo which shows exactly the color you were explaining.

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  3. Lovely photos, Moreton Hall is a place I've always wanted to visit.

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  4. What an interesting building - and made even more so by your explanations. It is so hard to conceive of anything that old, when over here we are eager to tear down anything more than 50 years old.

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  5. What a wonderful photo essay! This is some place I've always wanted to visit. Definitely on my bucket list.

    And how lovely to see Jo in some of the photos. Give her a hug from me. Maybe one day we'll get to meet in person.

    Take care and God bless, xoxox Carol/DeeDee

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  6. What a wonderful place!
    Thank you for sharing!

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  7. Such a fascinating place, i've never seen walls sagging that way! It makes me wonder if it can be repaired, or has to be maintained just that way.

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  8. It doesn't look very safe but it sure is an eye catching building. I like the sound of silver and buttermilk!

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  9. What a fascinating place - and thank you for telling us about the difference in colours this type of building would have had originally! I never thought of that. So it was not only different colours, but straight lines, too, when it was first built.
    It now looks like something out of a dream. I think I could get lost in there.

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  10. a magnificent place! that must have been so fun to tour.

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  11. Amazing to see this, thanks for sharing it.

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  12. I've been there!!! Long time ago - 45 years... Somehow, with buildings as old as this one, that does not seem to make much difference, though. I do remember there not being a straight angle in the house. I visited it with a penfriend and her family from Stoke-on-Trent, with whom my parents had left me for the day (while they were off somewhere else).

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  13. I've been there quite a few times one way and another but I think the last time I was there was with you. It's a lovely old place.

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  14. Lovely! It tilts all over the place, dunnit?

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  15. Received your postcard last week, thank you very much, John!
    And seeing the postcard, one cannot imagine what's behind the front side - so thank you for sharing these wonderful photos, too!

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  16. Hi John,

    I'm commenting from the BBC - I'm keen to make contact in regards to a photograph of the Magic Clock pub on your other blog. I wondered if you could drop me a line? My email address is emily.wallis02@bbc.co.uk

    Many thanks,

    Emily

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  17. This was a very interesting read for me...thanks for posting CJ.

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  18. I enjoyed visiting LMH a few years ago with a friend. I didn't see the two sets of panelling then, but it was nice having my memory jogged by your piece.

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  19. Thank you for the excellent photo essay. Every time I read your blog I'd like to move to England.

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